PHARMACEUTICAL BOTANY Pharmaceutical Botany is a branch of science that examines plants that are used directly as drugs or used for the production of drugs. When performing this examination, it places outmost importance to indicate; - the position of plants within plant systematics, - special structures of plants, - parts of plants used in the production of drugs (drog), - primary active substances that are responsible for their utility, - effects of both these substances and the drogs. Physicians continued to treat their patients with mostly botanical natural drugs for years. When the fact that diagnosing a disease and preparing the drug requires different specialization was clearly understood, medicine and pharmacy was divided into two professions and continued their development in their own fields of expertise. The continuing increase in the number of plants used for the purpose of treatment led to the development of a separate art that would deal with these plants (i.e. Pharmaceutical Botany). Pharmaceutical Botany could only become an independent art in the 19th century. - Deals with plants yielding medicines; - Is a science that covers; • the location of these plants within plant systematics, • their special structures, • the drugs that they yield active substances that these drugs contain, and • their indications. It also examines plants that are used as - spices, -dyes, - foods, and also - poisonous plants Pharmaceutical Botany has also become an important science in Turkey during the same century. In 1839, a class of Pharmacy has been opened in Galatasaray Medical School as a specialty science of the profession and the course Pharmacuetical Botany was introduced to the pharmacy education and has been taught continuously ever since. The School of Pharmacy became a part of İstanbul University Faculty of Medicine in 1944 and the courses were continued with the same context under the name “Pharmaceutical Botany”. School of Pharmacy became İstanbul University Faculty of Pharmacy in 1962, and after that Pharmaceutical Botany has been accepted as an independent department in this faculty. The first pharmacist academician who has been teaching this course since that time is Prof. Dr. Asuman BAYTOP. PROF. DR. ASUMAN BAYTOP The primary goal of Pharmaceutical Botany is; teaching pharmacists drug yielding plants or plants that are used as medicine, i.e. medicinal plants. A pharmacist shoud learn about useful plants (food-spice-dye) and especially poisonous plants and also should have vast knowledge on plants that grow in his/her country, their origins, habitats and usages. In addition, he/she should know about the flora of his/her country to a certain extent. PLANT SYSTEMATICS Systematics = Biological systematics examines the biodiversity of living organisms on earth and the relationships that develop among living organisms throughout time. …………………………………………………………… Plant systematics (Systematical Botany = Plant Taxonomy), a branch of botany that examines and identifies plants. Systematic botany will also establish the basis of “Pharmaceutical Botany”. Plant systematics could only become a branch of science in 19th century. Botany was able to advance with the discovery of the microscope, advances in anatomy and cytology (cell science), development of genetics, introduction of the theory of evolution. Plant systematics (Systematic Botany = Plant Taxonomy) is closely related to other branches of botany and benefits from them quiet a deal. These are: MORPHOLOGY (morph- =Gr. form; morphologia = the science of form): Examines the inner and outer structures of the plants in respect to their forms. In order to make a precise examination, it is divided into more specific branches such as cytology (cyto- =Gr. cell), histology (hist(o)-=Gr. tissue), anatomy (anatomia = the science that deals with the structure of the living organism), organography (organum = organ; graphia = description) and embryology (embryo- = embryo; embryologia = anatomy of formation). PHYSIOLOGY (physi(o)- =Gr. nature; physics): Examines the normal functioning of living organisms and investigates the vital incidents of plants based on the laws of physics and chemistry. Here, a more accurate term should be Plant Physiology. ECOLOGY (oec(o)-= Gr. home): Examines the relationships of plants with the environment that they live in. PALEONTOLOGY (= Paleobotany= Phytopalaeontologia), (palaeo-= Gr. ancient; phyt-= Gr. plant): Examines the remnants of the plants that have lived in a geological era, i.e., examines plant fossils. PHYTOGEOGRAPHY (Plant Geography = Geobotany (gae(o)-= Gr. earth): Examines the distribution of plants throughout the earth and also examines the issues related to the formation of these distribution patterns. GENETICS (= Inheritance) (genesis= development; genetica= the science related to development): Examines the heredity of cababilities and the laws governing them. EVOLUTION Examines the individual and collective changes of plants beginning from the formation of earth till today. CHEMOTAXONOMY (Gr. tax(i)-= order, regularity; to arrange in an order according to a regularity) Classifies plants according to the chemical structures of their active substances. CYTOTAXONOMY (cyto-; taxi-) Studies the classification of plants based on the evidence related to their chromosome numbers and structures, and also cytological findings. Plant Systematics form the foundation of Pharmaceutial Botany. Plant Systematics primarily deal with: 1. Classification (classis= class): Classification of plants, 2. Nomenclature (nomen= name): Naming of plants, 3. Identification, Determination (determinare= to determine, identify; idens= similarity) finding the similarity, identification of plants. 1. Classifications of Plants: The purpose of classification is grouping plants that grow throughout the earth according to their similarities and differences. Man has grouped plants as edible plants, poisonous plants and fuel accordingly. As years have passed, the number of plants that need to be identified increased, and as a result plants had to be scientifically classified. Theophrastus (370 BC – ca 285 BC) Born in the Island Midilli, went to Athens and performed his studies there. He was a naturalist and philosopher who had important observations in the field of botany, he identified approximately 500 plants morphologically (most of them with illustrations) and grew medicinal plants in a garden in Athens. BOOKS HE HAD WRITTEN ON PLANTS THEOPHRASTUS (370 BC-285 BC) is known as the father of botany De Causis Plantarum and grouped plants as trees, (Examinations of Plants) bushes, herbs, annual, biennial, (9 volumes) perenial and also accordng to the De Historia Plantarum form of the corolla. (About the History of Plants) (2 volumes) Andrea CAESALPINO (l5l9-l603), Italian botanist who is considered to be the first plant taxonomist; He grouped plants as: - Trees and herbs - According to their fruit types and seeds and then took some other characteristics into consideration as the condition of the ovarium, plants having bulb, juice in the stem etc. Joseph Pitton de Tournefort (1656 -1708) French Scientist (Naturalist) He was sent to the east by the French government to perform botanical studies and to collect plants. While classifying plants, he grouped them as; - trees and herbs, - Plants with/without petals, and - Flowers as actinomorph/asymmetric. Classifications that are implemented in taxonomy are divided into 3 main systems: 1. Natural System: 2. Artifical System: 3. Phylogenetic System: Classification was not considered to be a branch of science until the 19th century. After the discovery of the microscope, advances in the fields of anatomy, cytology,and genetics were reflected in the field of botany and new systems in classification arouse. Today, the mostly used system in the field of sytematics is the Natural System. According to this system, Regnum Vegetabile is divided into taxa from the biggest group to the smallest one. Divisio = division REGNUM VEGETABILE Subdivisio = subdivision Classis = class - Taxa from the biggest to the smallest Subclassis = subclass group*- Ordo = order Subordo = suborder Familia = family Subfamily Tribus = tribus Subtribus Genus = genus Subgenus sectio Subsectio series Subseries Species Subspecies Varietas = variety Subvariety Forma = form Subforma *Taxon, (Gr. taxis , “arranging” ; nomia "method") is the common name that is used in the classification of plants (within a hierarchy). - Any taxonomic unit or group is called a “taxon”. The basic unit of all taxa is the “species”. - A species is an individual with identical invariable characters and the offspring of a single individual. - Individuals of a species can only reproduce among themselves, can not reproduce with other species. - Genus, family, ordo are a taxonomic group, a taxon. 2. Nomenclature: Nomenclature is also found among the field of plant systematics Its purpose is to identify a plant or a plant group with a single scientific name in order to define that plant precisely without hesitation. Establishing rules for this purpose is also within the concept of nomenclature. Communities with different languages name plants that grow in their countries in their own languages in response to their Latin names. Regional names can not always expected to be true and precise since every plant has a local name that changes according to the region. Similarly, two different plants may be known with the same local name in different regions. For example; Thymus, Origanum, Corydothymus, Satureja